Jiangmen, China, July 7, 2024 – Iran pulled off dramatic 3-1 (25-15, 25-27, 25-13, 25-16) victory against New Zealand in the 9th-10th playoff clash to settle for the ninth place at the 22nd Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium here on Sunday.
Iran finished a well-earned sixth place at the previous edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan two years ago, but this time, they returned with the ninth position. Iran head coach Padideh Boloorizadeh commented after the match.
“I think we had a good start in this match against New Zealand, but then we lost our focus in the second set. They could gain composure back and had a very good start in the third set. In the fourth set, I think the players played very well, not as expected, but the problem was that we started from a very difficult group and we were very disappointed because we thought that we could be in the round of last 8. All in all, it’s a good experience for young players and I hope they can perform better in the near future.”
Outside hitter Shaghayegh Hassankhani delivered 15 points from 12 kills and 3 aces for Iran, while opposite Sepinood Dastbarjan and middle blocker Paria Hajatmand contributed 11 points apiece. Opposite Charlie Vail scored 13 points including 6 attacks from 14 attempts on the New Zealand’s loss.
Iran and New Zealand were leveled at 4-4 from the beginning of the first set, but after that the Iranians found their rhythm to surge away with a seven-point lead at 14-4 and extended to 20-12, making use of powerful attacks from outside hitter Shaghayegh Hassankhani and opposite Sepinood Dastbarjan. The Kiwis fought back, but their counter-attacks were not so good and neither was their service. Iran established the commanding 22-15 lead and after that, outside hitter Asra Effekhari was in devastating form to deliver three points in a row through her well-placed serves. Iran took the first set without much effort 25-15.
The second set was tightly-contested, with both sides playing neck and neck. The Kiwis improved on their offense system, orchestrated by opposite Charlie Vail and middle blockers Pippa Henderson and Marnie Ursem. They gained the upper hand to take a narrow 14-13 and widened the margin to 22-19. Iran counter-attacks, but the Kiwis were also defending well. The score was tied at 24-24 and 25-25, but the Kiwis held their nerves, with outside hitter Chloe Kemble and Marnie uncorking fine attacks to bag two points on the trot for the 27-25 win.
The third set turned out to be one-way traffic as Iran regained their form and stayed focused to the game they were playing. As. Iran led initially 18-11 and once extended it to 23-12, the Kiwis tried hard to come back, but the Iranians managed to foil the rivals’ attempts with their combination attacks and good defense to take the comfortable set 25-13.
Iran dominated the fourth set to take the lead by wide margin of 10-2, continued their impressive form to advance to 23-13 and reached the set point 24-13, needing only one more point to wrap up the set and match. However, the Kiwis bounced back heavily to save three match points before middle blocker Paria Hajatmand hammered a match winner for the Iran’s eventual 25-16 win.
Iran took the ninth place in this championship, with New Zealand in 10th position.
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